


Seashells

by KnightsofEclipse



Category: Moana (2016), The Little Mermaid (1989)
Genre: Crossover, F/F, I tried to keep as much of both plots in tact as I could, Lesbian AU, No Homophobia, Songfic, combining disney movies, song variations based on the little mermaid broadway soundtrack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-25
Updated: 2020-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:34:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22889296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KnightsofEclipse/pseuds/KnightsofEclipse
Summary: Set during Moana.Ariel hears a voice from under the water and heads to the surface to find who it belongs to. One look at the girl singing on the shore as Ariel head over fin. Moana sees Ariel and the feeling is reciprocated. But the fear drilled into Ariel by her father of the land above causes her to flee.The same stories you remember. But mashed together. And also gay.
Relationships: Ariel/Moana Waialiki (Disney)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 56





	Seashells

The swish of fins sent bubbles around and up toward the surface. The youngest daughter of the king of Atlantica followed, moving between the pockets of air trapped in the current. Her yellow, fish friend did his best to keep up as they neared closer and closer to the surface. They had been exploring a cave near the ocean floor when the young mermaid’s head had shot up and she had begun her ascent.

“Ariel! Wait!” Flounder protested. “Where are you going? Ariel?” He flapped his fins, helplessly falling behind despite his best efforts to keep up. “We’re not supposed to be here!”

Ariel looked over her shoulder at her friend, not slowing up for him. “Don’t be a guppy, Flounder.” She stopped abruptly as her attention was brought forward once more. A large reef of coral, like a wall, an obstacle in their path. “Don’t you hear it?”

Flounder caught up and stopped to listen. It was unmistakable. Someone was singing.

_See the line where the sky meets the sea  
It calls me  
And no one knows  
How far it goes_

Ariel was smiling so brightly, Flounder couldn’t bring himself to protest. “I have to find that voice.” The little mermaid pushed on. Flounder sighed and followed.

\--+--

On the shore, the daughter of the chief of Motunui, Moana, was practically running at the water, singing.

_If the wind in my sail on the sea stays behind me  
One day I’ll know  
How far I’ll go_

Her note cut off abruptly when she saw something splashing to the surface at the mouth of the bay. Her pace slowed, now wading carefully into the water until the bottom of her skirt began to float. Her jaw hung open as what she saw moved closer.

It was a girl. Pale as the sand below her feet. With hair as red as fire. Moana was transfixed. The girl was just close enough that Moana could see she was smiling. Moana raised a hand and waved at her. The girl waved back. “I am Moana!” Moana shouted, wondering if the girl could hear her. “What are you doing out there? It’s not safe past the reef!”

Bushes rustled behind Moana and the girl got spooked. She dove forward and turned around. It was unmistakable, she had a tail. A hand gripped the back of Moana’s top and she was dragged back to the beach by her father. “What were you doing just now?”

Moana tore her eyes away from the spot the girl had been floating. She looked at her father, then at her mother who stood at the tree-line. Moana gave her head a quick shake. “Nothing. I…I thought I saw someone. Must have been my imagination.”

\--+--

“Moana.” Ariel clasped her hands over her heart. The singer’s name was Moana. The little mermaid felt giddy, so light the current would sweep her away. “Oh, Flounder, wasn’t she beautiful?”

Flounder didn’t have the heart to tell his companion that he had indeed been a guppy and didn’t actually get a look at her. “Oh, yeah,” he nodded vigorously. “Hey, Ariel, shouldn’t we be getting home?”

Ariel’s eyes grew wide as she remembered where she was supposed to be. “The concert!”

\--+--

“Grandma!” Moana excitedly pulled her grandmother’s hand and lead her a little ways into the trees. “I’ve just met — well, not met — I just saw the most amazing thing! A girl in the water! She had a tail!”

Grandma smiled and patted Moana’s hand lovingly. “A mermaid? My, you don’t see them around her much anymore.”

“A mermaid?” Moana’s forehead creased with curiosity. “What’s a mermaid?”

Grandma chuckled and found a toppled tree to perch on, lightly patting the place next to her to indicate that Moana should join her. “Mermaids are magic creatures that the ocean created to keep her company. After Maui, people wanted to recreate his circumstances to populate the world with demigods. The ocean thought this was selfish, so took those thrown to it and kept them safe; as mermaids.” Grandma nodded wisely to herself. “After a time, people learned. But still, if a mermaid lets a human see them; that human must be very special.”

Moana smiled proudly. That smile soon faltered. “I didn’t get her name, though.”

Grandma got up, waddling back toward the village. “Don’t worry. Mermaids keep special things close to their hearts.”

\--+--

Ariel pushed a rock aside and squirmed into her secret grotto. It was filled with treasured she had accumulated from shipwrecks and other places. She looked at a particularly mountainous pile of thingamabobs and swished her tail through them to send them into the sand. She then found a metal stick, a whatsitmagig, and began striking it against the rock where her treasures previously sat.

Flounder, and now Sebastian, watched on in confusion as she continued her strange task. When she finally sat back they looked in amazement at the product. With a little hard work, Ariel had carved Moana into the rock. 

Sebastian tapped his claw together. “And just what is the meaning of this, young lady?” He puffed out his chest to try to look intimidating.

“Oh, Sebastian,” Ariel sighed. “She was so wonderful. If only I could make my father understand. That a word that makes such wonderful things, can’t be bad.”

She flitted around, singing about being part of a world she could share with Moana. She stopped to draw in the sand with her whatsamagig: a stick portrait of Ariel and Moana together. 

_Out of the sea  
Wish I could be  
Part of that world_

\--+--

Moana couldn’t help herself. If not her own simple desires to know what was out there and experience the sea, then to find her mermaid. She pushed her boat out and boarded, doing as she’d seen the fishers do and holding the rope tight. She paddled out until she reached the coral. Gulping, she pressed forward. 

Nature’s will turned the sky dark and a storm brewed before her eyes. The waves grew rough and Moana was holding on for her life as she was tossed about like a piece of sea weed. She got out one gasp for help before the boat when over and water filled her lungs. 

She felt the pull of the ocean as she was tossed against the ship, and then the rocks on the ocean floor. She tried, helplessly to reach the surface but the crash of the waves and the swirl of the current made it so that she couldn’t tell which way the surface was.

The cold, unwelcome, darkness that Moana hoped to never associate with the water was creeping around the edges of her consciousness. In a last effort, she opened her mouth once more to try to make a sound, only succeeding in swallowing more water. Her mind slipped away from her, but she swore she felt hands grab her arm before the darkness took her.

\--+--

Ariel dragged Moana onto the beach as best she could, keeping her own tail where the tide would lap at it. She feared being seen again and wanted to be sure she could make a quick escape once she was sure Moana was alright. 

Ariel, lightly tracing her slender fingers around Moana’s thick wrists felt both their hearts beat in a gentle rhythm. 

_What would I give to live where you are?  
What would I pay to stay here beside you?  
What would I do to see you smiling at me?_

Ariel jumped a little when Moana’s hand unconsciously closed around her own. She studied their joined fingers for what felt like forever. It looked right. 

_Where would walk?  
Where would we run?  
If we could stay all day in the sun  
Just you and me  
Then I could be  
Part of your world_

Moana’s brow creased and her eye lids fluttered. Ariel yanked her hand free and scooted back into the water. Thinking a moment, Ariel moved back up the sand and pulled the flower from her own hair and tucked it behind Moana’s ear. She then disappeared into the foam.

Moana opened her eyes and looked around. She was alive. The boat was gone. But she was there. And that voice. It had to be the mermaid who had saved her. She jumped to her feet, brushing the sand from her back, and ran toward the village to tell her grandmother.

Ariel watched Moana’s smile disappear from a rock out of view. 

_I don’t know when  
And I don’t know how  
But I know something’s started right now  
Watch and you’ll see  
Someday I’ll be  
Part of your world_

Ariel was determined as she headed back home. She had to find a way to be with Moana. The sea was too dangerous. She had to be on land. Before she knew where she had swam, Ariel found herself someplace very dangerous indeed.

“Poor child.” 

Ariel spun around but no one was behind her.

“Poor, sweet child.” 

She spun again. Still, not a soul.

“She has a very serious problem, hasn’t she?”

“Hmm, if only,”

“There were something,”

“We could do?”

Two eels slithered out from a crack in a rock, twinning together and twisting around Ariel as they spoke.

“Who are you two?” Ariel had an uneasy feeling.

The eel’s grins appeared to glow in the dim light of the deep water. Ariel couldn’t tell them apart as they swam around and taunted her in a singsong voice. “Sweet child. Poor child. So tragic, so misunderstood. Dear child. Sad child. Life’s looking, shall we say, not good? No.” 

Ariel could tell there were two, distinct voices coming from the creatures, but she couldn’t place which voice came from where.

The eels got closer, swimming under her arms and through her hair as they teased. “Who will ease her woes and worries? Who will help her get her man? Sweet child, perhaps the sea witch can.”

Ariel felt a rush of anger at their implications of her feelings being meant for a man but was brought out of it almost immediately by that dark title being mentioned. “You can’t possibly mean, Aunt Ursula?”

“She knows your dreams,” the eels hissed.

Ariel shook her head. “Father says her magic is evil.” Her heart panged to say that he also said Moana was inherently evil.

“She’ll grant your prayers.” The eels began to steer her deeper.

“Please,” Ariel pushed back, with little success, “I have to go.”

The eels, knotting their tails behind her and — smiling on either side of the little mermaid — kept up with their enticement. “She’ll cast a charm, a tiny spell. Why the alarm? No one will tell. No one will care. It’s your affair. Sweet child, dear child, poor child, sad child, we’ll bring you to her lair right now. Bet in half a sec, your prince and you are reconciled.” They stopped, suddenly releasing Ariel and coming around to face her fully. “Together,” one hissed. “Forever,” the other hissed.

Ariel swallowed nervously. “Take me to her.” 

The eels smiled, each twisting a tail around her wrists and pulled her down a hole in the rocks. A blast of warm water hit her and she found herself in her Aunt’s ocean lair.

“Boss,” the eels called out. “We brought her.”

Ariel peered into the darkness of the cavern and watched her Aunt, a large octopus of a woman, slither into the light. “Aunt Ursula, I need your help. Can you, help me?”

The grin that twisted on her Aunt’s face made Ariel’s stomach drop. “My dear, sweet child. It’s what I live for. To help, unfortunate merfolk, like yourself. Poor souls with no one else to turn to.” She went on to explain the work she did, things Ariel had only been vaguely aware of. She knew from her father that the sea witch was dangerous but she was beginning to doubt his judgement more and more. “Here’s my best offer. I know a spell that will turn you into a human for three days. Now, it’s got your procedural clause, sort of a squid pro quo. Before the sun rises on the third day, you’ve got to get dear old prince-y to kiss you-”

“Um, Aunt Ursula,” Ariel couldn’t hold her tongue. This needed to be cleared up. “It’s not a prince I’m after. It’s a girl. Her name is Moana.” 

Ursula stopped. “Oh…OH! Well, no matter. If you do get a kiss, you’ll stay human forever.”

Ariel felt relieved that her Aunt didn’t make a big deal about who it was she was after. “And if I don’t?” she voiced the question, merely because it felt like the sea witch was waiting for it.

“Nothing drastic, darling, I’m sure,” Ursula soothed. She then produced a scroll from somewhere and made a surprised face. “Oh look, small print. You soul is mine forever and you’re doom to spend eternity in my watery, hell soaked lair. Lawyers, don’t you just love them.” That line seemed to be directed at the eels. “Of course,” her attention was back on Ariel, “there is one more thing. My fee.”

Ariel began shaking her head. “But I don’t have anything.”

Ursula frowned. It seemed to change her entire face. “I’m not asking for much. Just,” She paused to lean forward and run a finger down Ariel’s throat, “your voice.”

“My voice?” Ariel’s heartbeat picked up. “But without my voice how can I ever-” She cut herself off. Ever what? Tell Moana her name? Sing a duet with Moana. Tell Moana how she felt? None of those felt exactly like the right reason. Especially in light of the other option being the ability to walk on land with Moana. Her voice was a small price to pay.

When Ursula had finished her unnecessary convincing, Ariel squeezed her eyes shut and signed the scroll. Ursula then commanded her to sing and the little mermaid watched her voice leave her mouth and flow into the shell kept around her Aunt’s neck. Once it was gone, her tail split and she could no longer breathe. She was thankful for the eels in that moment as they rushed her to the surface. The last thing she heard before breaking through the water was her Aunt’s cry of “Swim for your life, human child!”

\--+--

There were no fish in the bay. Each day passed and food became scarcer. Moana was worried. Not even walking along the beach and feeling the tide ebb at her toes was able to calm the agitation in the pit of her stomach. Grandma had shown her the boats in the cave. She just need a sign. A sign that it would work out this time. That there was nothing to fear and she could save her people. She touched the stone, now hung around her neck.

The bright colour was what caught Moana’s attention. Red like fire. Moana perked up as she ran toward the figure on the beach. A girl, draped in a makeshift dress of an old sail, was standing and staring at her legs. Moana slowed as she approached. Hair, red as fire. Skin, pale as sand. But she had legs. 

Cautiously, Moana called out, “Hello?”

The girl jumped and turned. When she laid eyes on Moana, her face lit up and she ran forward. She opened her mouth to greet Moana but nothing came out. The girl began frantically tapping her throat as if to say she had no voice.

Moana’s heart sank. This couldn’t be her mermaid. If she couldn’t speak, she couldn’t sing. “Sorry. I thought you were someone else. What are you doing here? I’ve never seen you before.”

The girl frown and stamped a foot, losing balance and falling back on the sand. She pushed her hair from her face and pointed to the water.

Moana squinted as she looked out, trying to see a boat or something she could have fallen from. “You came from out there?” She looked down at the girl, offering her a hand up. “What’s it like?”

The girl smiled and tapped her chin thoughtfully. She waved her arms like the current and jumped a bit. She opened her mouth to convey singing and her eyes sparkled as she looked out on the water. Moana didn’t quite know what she was trying to say, but felt the gesture warm her nonetheless.

Moana looked around. “Do you want to help me? I need to go out there. This island is dying. But I know how to save it.” She opened the necklace to show the girl that it contained the heart of Te Fiti. “With this heart, I will sail across the ocean to Maui and make him return it to where it belongs.”

The girl excitedly grasped Moana’s hands and bounced. Moana took that as a yes. 

“Wait here.” Moana pulled away and ran back to the village. She was about to call out for her grandmother when she saw her father and the look of despair on his face. She swallowed, fearing the worst and headed toward him. He nodded solemnly and led her inside to see her grandmother, dying.

“Moana,” Grandma beckoned her close. The silence of the tent allowed for her voice to carry to the chief, though. “I have only one wish. You do this, and I will always be proud of you.”

Moana fought tears, trying to be strong for her grandmother. “What is it?”

Grandma smiled her mischievous smile. “Find love in what makes you happy.”

\--+--

When Moana returned to the beach, Ariel could feel something had changed. Moana walked right past her, not even indicating her to follow. Ariel reached out and caught Moana’s arm, forcing her to look at the non-mermaid. 

Moana had tears in her eyes. When they met Ariel’s bright, blue ones; the tides gave way and she fell forward to cry into Ariel’s shoulder. Ariel felt helpless, patting Moana’s hair but unable to ask what had happened or offer any words of support.

Moana wiped her eyes and pulled away. “My grandmother passed away. If nothing else, I need to fulfil her wishes.” Moana took Ariel’s hand and led her to the boats. 

Neither of them had any idea how to sail. And without her tail, Ariel was unable to pull the boat by swimming. The once-little-mermaid felt awkward and unsure. She guessed this wasn’t the right time to try to get a kiss. Moana’s emotions were too raw.

\--+--

Maui was surprisingly better at understanding Ariel’s charades than Moana was. Yes, her name was Ariel. That name made Moana’s heart sing for reason’s she couldn’t explain. 

“And just how do you know that?” Moana had demanded.

Maui shrugged. “Cuz she’s a mermaid, right, Princess?” As if that answered it.

Moana steamed. “I already told you, I’m not a princess.” From the corner of her eye she saw Ariel wave and tap her chest frantically. “But, you are?” She nodded.

Ariel then proceed to gesture wildly to Maui. He nodded along and said little things like; “is that so? You don’t say?” When she started pointing at Moana, Maui’s jaw unhinged a bit and he had to compose himself before nodding and adding “yeah, I can see that.” 

“What?” Moana pouted. “What is she saying?” 

Maui picked Moana up and placed her back on the boat, Ariel following on her own. “Nothing, I’ll tell you later. Don’t we need to get my hook so I can put the heart back? Let’s go.”

Moana frowned. “I thought you said you wouldn’t do it?”

Maui waved a hand. “Yeah, yeah. Changed my mind. Someone’s gotta chaperon you kids.”

\--+--

They landed on a big rock. That was the only thing Ariel could think it was. Just one big rock. Maui had gotten off the boat and was looking for the best way to climb the rock. Moana was already jumping ledges up the side. Ariel unfolded her legs from where she was sitting and moved to get off the boat.

“Sorry, Princess. You wait here.” Maui held his hand up to stop Ariel. She frowned. “If crab-face sees you, well, our trio’ll be down to two.”

Moana hopped down and crossed her arms. “What do you mean?”

Maui smacked his forehead and let his hand run down his face. “I’m saying she’ll be his if she goes in there. You should stay here, too.”

“I’m going.” Moana puffed out her chest. “I have to show this god he can’t just take what’s mine.”

“Moana, no,” Maui tried to reason.

“Moana, yes!” Moana started her way back up the cliff. Ariel covered her mouth to conceal her silent giggle. 

\--+--

Moana smiled. Ariel was sitting on the edge of the boat with her legs in the water, just kicking them lightly to create ripples. She touched the heart at her neck and looked over at Maui. She exploded in laughter at the sight of his shark head. 

Ariel turned to see what the commotion was and her thinking expression was replaced by a broad smile. There was no doubt what she was thinking: they made it back alive. Moana realized how worried the princess must have been.

\--+--

As they sailed, Ariel stared out at the night sky. Only a little bit longer. She didn’t want to say goodbye, but she didn’t know how she could convey her feelings. Maui laid a blanket around her shoulders and she looked to him. Moana was busy steering the boat. 

“Any message you want me to pass along?” Maui asked gently.

There was so much Ariel wanted to say. But there was already so much pressure on Moana that Ariel couldn’t bring herself to ask anything. Then a thought struck her. She motioned to the her neck and then to her chest.

Maui nodded. “Hey, Ariel wants to know about your grandmother.”

Moana looked surprised. “About grandma? Um,” she looked out over the water and saw the glow of the stingray moving toward the ship. “She always had a lively spirit. And never ceased to surprise me. She asked I do something, before she died. She asked that I find love with what makes me happy.”

Ariel seemed to perk up at this. The glowing creature beneath the boat jumped and floated in the air around the boat until it stopped to stand on the front, right before Moana. Its shape changed and it was undoubtedly grandma. “And it looks like you’re making good on that.” 

_I know a girl from an island  
She stands apart from the crowd  
She loves the sea and her people  
She makes her whole family proud  
Sometimes the world seems against you  
The journey may leave a scar  
But scars can heal and reveal just  
Where you are  
The people you love will change you  
The things you have learned will guide you  
And nothing on earth can silence  
The quiet voice still inside you  
And when that voice starts to whisper  
Moana, you've come so far  
Moana, listen  
Do you know who you are?_

“Who I am?” Moana looked from grandma to Ariel. The princess smiled and tilted her head as if to say go on. Moana nodded and turned her face to the sky.

_I am a girl who loves her island  
I'm the girl who loves the sea  
It calls me  
I am the daughter of the village chief  
We are descended from voyagers  
Who found their way across the world  
They call me  
I've delivered us to where we are  
I have journeyed farther  
I am everything I've learned and more  
Still it calls me_

“And the call isn't out there at all,” she reached out and took Ariel’s hand, “it’s beside me. It's like the tide; always falling and rising. I will carry you here in my heart you'll remind me,” her free hand reached up to touch the heart in her necklace. “That come what may. I know the way. I am Moana!” 

“How quaint.” 

Ariel gasped and gripped Moana’s arm. Maui stepped in front to protect them. 

“Time’s almost up, my dear,” Ursula purred, Ariel’s voice coming from the shell necklace to mask the witch’s.

Moana’s heart hurt, hearing the voice. “That voice,” she looked at Ariel. “That’s…your…voice?” 

“The poor dear made a deal,” Ursula cooed. “Give up her voice — incidentally the part of her you loved — in order to be a human at your side.”

Moana felt hot tears burn as they fell from her eyes. Tears of anger. “What do you mean time’s almost up?”

“Kid, no, don’t get her talking. That’s what she wants,” Maui protested, but it fell on deaf ears.

Ursula raised a brow. “You should really listen to your _god_ , darling. He’s right, you know.” She shrugged and carried on without so much as a breathe. “I gave the little scallop 3 days to get a kiss from the one who meant more to her than her own life. If she can succeed, she can stay human forever. And, if not — which is what it’s looking to be — I’ll own her soul.”

“How long does she have?” Moana had her oar positioned like a spear.

“Moana, stop!” Maui shouted, grabbing the oar. 

Moana and Maui struggled with the oar for several minutes before the horrible cackle of Ursula’s true voice gained their attention. “Right now!” The sun peaked over the horizon and magic water found its way around Ariel’s legs.

“Moana!” 

Moana’s heart broke finally hearing Ariel call her name. But she was helpless to do anything. 

The oar conked Moana on the back of the head. “Hey, idiot! Instead of just watching why not do something? The magic is coming from the witch’s necklace!” Maui was already using his hook to turn into a hawk.

Maui flew at Ursula as a distraction. His talons caught the rope of the necklace and it snapped with almost no force. The pendant fell and landed in Moana’s hand. She stared at it. “What do I do with it?” 

Maui, in between beats of his wings and strikes of his talons, called down to her, “I don’t know! Use your head!”

Anyone else would have taken that literally. Moana stopped and let her mind go blank. There had to be something in the last 3 days that could fix this. 

_And the call isn’t out there at all; it’s beside me.  
A kiss from the one that meant more to her than her own life.  
Mermaids keep special things close to their hearts._

Moana opened her eyes and dove at Ariel, who was flopping on the edge of the boat; the transformation almost complete. “I’m sorry I was so dumb!” Moana shouted before pulling Ariel to her and giving her a kiss. 

They both felt it. Ariel in her legs, and Moana in the shell in her hand. The spell was breaking. Ariel opened her eyes, leaning her forehead against Moana’s. “I’m sorry I was too afraid to show you how I felt.” She looked down and saw her tail had become legs again. 

Maui had scared Ursula back into the sea. He landed and turned back into his human form. “Good work. I admit, it would have been faster and a lot less dramatic if you had figured it out sooner. But, better late than never. Now,” he casually threw his arms around them both, “let’s get that heart to Te Fiti.”

\--+--

Moana, walking across the parted ocean, took Ariel’s hand. 

_We have crossed the horizon to find you  
We know your name  
They have stolen the heart from inside you  
But this does not define you  
This is not who you are  
You know who you are_

Ariel, a little afraid, squeezed Moana’s hand as the brave girl held out the heart and placed it in Te Ka’s, no, Te Fiti’s chest. 

The island came back to life, lifting Moana and Ariel up as it settled back to where it belonged. It lightly tapped Ariel’s chest with its giant finger and the little mermaid felt warmth within herself. She didn’t need to be told, Te Fiti had granted her the magic needed to live both on land and in the sea.

\--+--

When Moana and Ariel returned to Motunui, they were welcomed with open arms. They recanted their adventure — of the demigod, Maui, and the love that had grown between them. Moana’s father welcomed Ariel to the family with no hesitations. 

“I’m dating the ocean,” Moana teased. “You gonna be okay with that, Dad?”

Her father laughed. “She brought you home to us. I can never repay her enough.”

Ariel looked sullen. “I wish my father would understand. He thinks humans are evil. Dangerous.”

“They can’t be all bad.” 

Ariel turned to see her father at the edge of the water. “Daddy!” She ran to him, her legs turning to tail when they hit the water. “I’m sorry.”

The king shook his head. “No. I’m sorry. If these humans make you happy, I cannot keep you from them.”

Moana smiled and laced her fingers with Ariel’s. “We are the love that makes us happy. Grandma knew. She was just trying to set us up.” The two girls smiled and shared a laugh. Their parents couldn’t help but laugh along, even though they didn’t understand the joke. Overhead, a hawk cawed along with them, making the girls laugh harder.

And they shared in laughter and love forever, just as they were promised. They lived happily ever after.


End file.
